


My Love, Take Your Time

by miraculouskittynoir (fangirl0430)



Series: Death Doesn't Discriminate [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cataclysm is a bitch..., F/M, Grief/Mourning, Moral Dilemmas, Self-Hatred, Stabbing, be prepared, it got a bit out of hand... whoops..., lots of death, poor kitty can't catch a break, was NOT supposed to be this much death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 07:55:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8882521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl0430/pseuds/miraculouskittynoir
Summary: Ladybug is dead and Chat Noir finally has Papillon right where he wants him...But can he cross that line? Or has he crossed it already?





	

He has waited for this moment for too long, vision red and claws outstretched, Papillon beneath him, his Cataclysm burning under his skin. He has waited for this ever since he lost her, ever since Papillon took her from him, her earrings in his pocket as a constant reminder of what he has lost. Yet, he’s hesitating, and the other man still has the audacity to smile, defying the one threatening to take his life with a single touch. He hates him; God, he hates this man. The world would be better off without him, without the hate and pain he creates and thrives on.

_Just do it. Do it. Do it for her._

His hand doesn’t move, still hovering behind him, ready to attack. And no matter how hard he tries, no matter how hard he wills his hand forward, it won’t move. He can’t bring himself to do it, no matter how much he wants to.

“You really are nothing without her, aren’t you?” Papillon spits, still smiling. “Can’t even finish your own battles without her guiding you along, like a child. It’s a shame how she went, isn’t it?” Chat bares his teeth, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

“You mean when _you_ killed her?” Chat snarls.

“That’s not how _I_ recall it happening,” Papillon says, malicious grin stretching even further across his lips. Chat wants to wipe that grin off his face, to end him, and his hand twitches as if in response. Papillon notices, his eyes flicking to the black magic swirling around Chat’s hand, seeming to consider it for a moment. “I seem to recall her scream when it happened. It was rather pathetic, if I must say.”

“Shut up,” Chat hisses, hand trembling.

“Though you may not remember it, considering you were in a bit of a different state of mind,” he continues. “The first thing you remember is coming to with her dying at your feet, right?”

“Shut _up_.” _She was writhing on the ground, no longer able to scream as one by one, her organs shut down and ripped themselves apart. He could only hold her, really. There wasn’t enough time to try to save her, as if there was anything doctors could do. No, all he could do was hold her against him for the few moments she had, watching with tears in his eyes and sobs ripping from his lips as, slowly, her thrashing went still and her eyes drifted, a trail of scarlet blood dripping from her nose and mouth. It hadn’t felt real, couldn’t be real. She was his, and any moment, she would open her eyes and tell him to stop being so dramatic. And he would laugh and kiss her, like he had wanted to for so long. But she wasn’t moving, her chest still. And then the transformation had dropped._

“What was her real name? Marinette?” Papillon smirks.

_He had wailed even louder then, suddenly feeling like his world was crumbling around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The very tool he had used so many times to save them had become the thing that had ripped it all apart._

“Who knew that Cataclysm would do that to the human body. Quite painful, I would assume.”

_How had he let himself…? How could he possibly…?_

“Wouldn’t you say, _Chat Blanc_ ,” Papillon says.

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Chat screams, bringing his hand down, within inches of the man’s throat, the Cataclysm scorching his hand. “YOU DID IT! NOT ME!” Chat didn’t even realize he was crying until he saw the tears falling onto Papillon’s shirt, the drops beading off as if they meant nothing. “IT’S NOT MY FAULT! IT’S YOURS! _YOU_ KILLED HER, NOT ME! YOU DID!”

“So now you want revenge, is that it?” Papillon says, almost seeming amused. “Revenge for your lost love?”

“SHUT UP!”

“Are you willing to take a life for her? To have the blood of another on your hands for something as petty as revenge? Would Paris’s great lone hero go so far?”

“YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“SHUT UP!”

His hand is shaking, a mere few inches from the man’s throat, and the tears are still streaming down his cheeks. And Papillon is _still smiling_. It’s like he knows, knows that under the mask is just a boy who has never lived for himself, who has always had his life decided by others, whose only escape came in the form of a black mask and cat ears, and even that will never be the same for him, not now.

The only reason he has donned the cat ears for the past month is to hunt this bastard down.

And now that he has him…

“Do it, coward,” Papillon taunts, his voice a harsh whisper. “Do it and prove me wrong.”

Now that he has him, he’s not sure if he can do it.

All it would take is one touch, and Paris would be a safe place once again.

One touch, and he would avenge the death of Ladybug, of Marinette.

So why can’t he move his hand the extra two inches and finish it?

One touch, and no one would suffer at Papillon’s hands again.

One touch, and Chat would be a murderer.

~~He hasn’t used Cataclysm since that day, and even now it burns his hand, his very power feeling more like a betrayal than a saving-grace. He hates it, hates himself, hates that he let himself get akumatized over something so _stupid_. It’s his fault. He’s already a murderer. He killed his true-love. But if that’s true, then why isn’t this easier? Why can’t he just…~~

Chat can hardly breathe, every breath catching in his throat, and he should want to take this man’s life but he can’t. He should want to make him pay for what he did to Marinette, but he just can’t do it. He can’t will himself to kill him, no matter how horrible he is. He can’t do that, can’t cross that line. He loves her, loves her with everything that he is, will always love her, but he can’t… He’s not strong enough… Because then, he guesses he would be no different from Papillon.

He thrusts his hand down, touching the concrete beside the man’s head, watching as it cracks and falls apart, his sobs finally breaking free.

_I’m sorry My Lady. I am so sorry. Mari, please forgive me. I’m so sorry. I can’t._

His entire body shudders as he cries, head bowed in defeat, tears cascading down in rivulets. Part of him feels like a thousand-ton weight has lifted off his chest. Another part of him can only weep, and he hates himself for it.

“Weak.”

The next second, everything blurs together. He remembers a sudden pain in his chest, like a red-hot coal getting shoved into his ribcage, something akin to rocks grating together vibrating through his chest and taking his breath away. Then everything comes back to him with startling clarity, and he looks down through still tear-filled eyes, seeing the glint of a thin blade protruding from the front of his chest, tip red with blood ~~his blood his blood his blood~~ and it’s dripping down his front, sticking to the leather suit ~~his blood his blood holy shit his blood~~ , and the blade is yanked back out, ripping a scream out of his throat as every nerve-ending lights on fire and he is thrown to the side, landing on the pavement and still screaming because his chest must be _on fire_ and it _hurts_.

“I hope your Ladybug is proud of her little coward,” Papillon says from somewhere above him, but he is so concerned with the blood pouring out of his chest, staining the ground red. He knows the other man is close, and he must stumble to his feet, hand clutching his wound as he shoves himself up, screaming at the new wave of pain that brings, and he looks up just in time to feel something hard whip across his face, sending him sprawling back to the ground, vision blurred and cheek raw. He tastes metal. His bloodied hand fumbles with his suit pocket.

“You’re not the brightest cat either, are you? Coming with _her_ Miraculous. As if I wouldn’t know. Two keystone Miraculouses that close together; you would have to be an idiot not to sense it.”

A hard-toed shoe connects with his ribs, forcing the air back out of his lungs in a gasp ~~he can’t even scream can’t even breathe~~ and he flies back a few feet, head hitting the concrete, everything going black for a moment, but no longer, because then he’s back on the ground in agony, blood still flowing between his fingers, making puddles and streaks on the ground as he keeps his hand securely pressed there.

“It’s no matter.”

Chat struggles to push himself to his feet, to push himself away, but it’s like his whole body is made of lead, fighting him. He wonders for a moment if Mari felt like this, like her body was betraying her. He has enough strength to reach behind him, taking his metal staff in his hand, hoping to at least get away. But then Papillon in standing over him, bending down, reaching behind him and tearing the staff from his hand, throwing it far away.

“Paris’s heroes, and look how easily I have defeated them. Sad, really.”

Chat is still trying to scramble away, the hand not holding his bloody chest frantically clawing at the concrete for traction, trying to get him far away from the monster towering over him. ~~He’s dying. He’s really dying. Is this how he’s going to go? It hurts. Mari I’m sorry. It hurts. Make it stop please.~~

“But you see, Chat _Noir_ ,” and then Chat is being grabbed by the jaw and yanked up so that his feet are dangling off of the ground, and he doesn’t even have it in him to kick or fight because what’s the point he’s lost ~~he’s dying~~ and now he’s eye-level with the man that killed his Lady, looking him in the eye and wondering how it came to this, how they lost, ~~how he lost~~ what he should have done differently. “This is what a person is willing to do for someone they truly love.”

_One chance._

_One moment._

_Mari, I love you. I’ll see you on the other side._

Though his vision is blurry, he looks Papillon straight in the eye, blood-soaked hand forming a fist around the objects he fumbled out of his pocket earlier, sliding the ring off his finger, the earrings and the ring together in his hand.

“No,” Chat rasps, mouth filled with blood, choking him. “This is true love,” he spits in the man’s face, and with the last of his strength, he crushes the objects in his hand, feeling them break and crumble in his grasp, hoping Plagg and the other kwami got out, feeling the flash of magic as his transformation is ripped away from him. He feels every bit of strength drain from his body all at once, all the pain dulling, and it’s like he’s floating, everything around him slowly going dark.

“Adrien?”

It’s a torn, ragged sound that he barely registers because everything is so light, and he can’t seem to remember why he was in so much pain, but then she’s there, hand out-stretched, beckoning him forward. He reaches out…

“My God, what have I done? Adrien? Adrien! Stay with me! You stay with me, son.”

Her fingers touch his, feel like light itself, leeching away all the pain from before.

“Adrien! Please don’t… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know! I didn’t… Oh my God. Someone call an ambulance! Please! Help me! I’m sorry! Please don’t—”

It’s all distant memories now, the harsh edges worn away like stones in a rushing river. She holds him to her, clutching him tight.

_“Oh, my boy.”_

_“I missed you too, Mother.”_

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this story did not start off this dark... I mean, it was going to be dark... Initially, Chat wasn't going to get stabbed, and he was just going to take Papillon's Miraculous... Then the story decided it was going to ignore my plans, and all of this happened... Whoops... So yeah, akumatized Chat killed Ladybug and held her as she died, and then Papillon/Gabriel killed Chat and held him as he died... Hell, even at the end, it was gonna be Marinette that Adrien saw... But the story had other plans in mind, and it became his mom... All around, this story became a lot more heartbreaking than I had intended...
> 
> But yeah, this is my first Miraculous fanfic... I hope you guys liked it... Let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> PS: Where my Hamilton fans at!?! I'm assuming you all got the reference (both in the title and the story)... Hehe...


End file.
